I have the same question. I guess the answer lies in UBI's involvement - they want to milk the pre-purchase and the first couple of weeks, but since they're not able to sustain DRM, updates and generally want to cut their expenses they'll use Steam for the longer term. Still I don't have any idea why 1C and Oleg decided to tie up with UBI again, they literally bring nothing to the table - half-arsed website, shooting the game off to Steam at the earliest convenience and they're bad publicity all over. If it's for the collector's edition - that could've been taken care of through a direct channel too (like DCS people do with the printed manual and maps).

I wouldn't expect the game to be released for a good while yet. July-August perhaps. These things do tend to stretch out at the last minute.

I notice Steam have a sort of Hyperlobby app for the iphone. You can get a running update of what is happening on your favourite servers. Who is playing and what mission is running etc. Perfect for sitting on the couch with the missus, sneaking a look at your phone then yawning theatrically and wandering into the next room to switch on the computer....

I've heard from other posters here that the game is not sold on Steam yet but i didn't know it wasn't even listed in the "coming soon" pages.
Maybe Steam is indeed there only for the multiplayer/server browser functions after all and not for managing the entire running/updating/managing of the game?

To be honest, i wouldn't mind at all if that was the case. It would sure p*ss off the people who like Steam but it would also help relax those that don't, so anything will be a trade off in the end.
The worst thing however is not so much what they will actually do, but the lack of information from Ubi in these matters.

If its a steamworks game you'll require steam no matter what, doesn't matter if you buy it boxed or digital, it will request a steam account upon installation. We'll see in two weeks but its suspiciously quiet , one would think that Steam would've listed it by now, but so far nothing known.

Might get some new info in tomorrows update tho.

We also know 99% that it is a steamworks game because the leaked footage was on steam - which means that he was playing a version bought and DL from steam, or he had the game shortcut/launch through the steam otherwise the friend announcement would not of popped up (also think an acheivment appeared aswell).

It not being offered on Steam I suspect is more a contractual agreement made with Ubisoft on not offering the game before they could begin pressing physical copies. Which would explain why Oleg and Ilya are so confident that it will be available for digital download on 3/25 but Ubisoft says that physical copies won't be available until 4/19. 2 weeks seems about like the time one might expect for boxed copies to be pressed and then available in retailers. Er Go my money spent on a digital copy is worth about 4 times more to 1C Maddox than a physical copy.